This archive report was first published on 19 December 2019.
On December 19, 2019, the Indian government ordered a shutdown of voice calls and internet services in New Delhi, marking the 350th internet shutdown in the country since 2014. The shutdown lasted from 9am to 1pm, affecting users of Airtel and Vodafone.
According to an order from the Delhi Commissioner of Police, the shutdown was directed to maintain law and order in the capital. The order read, 'In view of prevailing law and order situation, we hereby direct that all communication of all types i.e voice, SMS & internet be halted from 0900 hours to 1300 hours …for dated 19/12/2019.'
Delhi Police Special Cell had directed on December 18 that voice, SMS, and internet services be halted from 9am to 1pm in walled city areas of north and central districts, as seen in a tweet from ANI.
Operators like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone confirmed that the shutdown was a planned outage as per government directives. Vodafone stated, 'There is a planned outage in schedule as per the government directive. This will be rectified as soon as we receive the next directive from the authority.'
However, critics argue that the internet shutdown is an attempt to gag citizens against voicing their opinions, particularly in the context of protests against a new citizenship law favoring non-Muslim immigrants, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
